WITCH ASTEROID

 In Desul there are those who forsake the powers of magic. Whether in a religious extreme or a clinical obsession, they strip their own bodies of the potential for magic. This involves a surgical removing of the ears and the sensory organs just below the skin around the skull. These anti-magic deafs are nicknamed "Snails," for they move slowly and often need a device to prop them up (or some would rather crawl along the ground and lean against walls). This is because they have lost not only their hearing, but their entire center of balance. The surgery is ironically magical in nature and also cuts them off from vibrational frequencies so the Snails lose an element of their touch as well. They experience injury, but they cannot feel pain. Their physical stamina is nearly limitless. They can crawl and crawl without every tiring. A Snail's body will crumple and die before it gives up on its pursuit. They are completely unaffected by magical ability. A magical flame will ha...

 I want an alternative to spell books. I like the image of a mage carrying around a bookshelf of reading material, Death Stranding -style. I like Dungeons & Dragons and Knave and Cairn. The cloistered scholar archetype is intriguing. But I still want a creative alternative.  How do wizards in traditionally wet or humid environments hold their magic? How does the magic-user in the wild — outside of their high tower, carrying all other manner of gear — find the cargo space to fit a few textbooks? And what really is magic?  Waves. Vibration. Sound. Magic affects everything. Naturally, the magical organ is the ear. It keeps balance. It filters these waves, intoning them within the body and solidifying their magical effect. Let’s create a “spell book” with these parameters. I’m going to call them “totems” instead. They are small, often hand-sized objects, perforated with holes that create unique sounds at specific volumes. Each totem holds one spell. Rolling a random spel...

   Seek the Myths. Honor the Seers. Protect the Realm. Spring. One day until Sceptremass. Sir Baldric and Sir Brom part ways with Jabek, a captain of the warty guard, and decide to ride towards Fort Grasp; the Seat of Power of the Realm. Journeying North, they come across a group of shepherds at night. They speak of tigers killing sheep in the East. In the morning the Company gallops with urgency to the fort. The river joins trifold and the knights have difficulty crossing. Brom is across with ease, but Baldric must be aided by his squire Dorf. Afternoon on the day of Sceptremass. The Company approaches the colossal structure, noise and jubilation inside. A courtyard filled with guardsmen training, archery, sparring with hay dummies, dogs chasing carved sticks. They tie their poor exhausted horses up with a young squire named Spike. The Company enters the grand hall, tables set with food and drink. Two Sworn Bell Knights guard a locked door on the right. One of them, Sworn B...

 Seek the Myths. Honor the Seers. Protect the Realm. Spring. Four days until Sceptremass. Young Knights-Errant; Baldric the Gilded Knight , a beautiful force of violence in a short-and-shiny package, and his squire Dorf ; Brom the Rune Knight , a hulking thoughtful behemoth, and his squire Noll . Visitors from a distant Realm. They are instantly cursed by false paths amongst eastern bluffy crags. Dorf takes a watch all night and nearly depletes his Clarity to 0 (it is left at 1). The next day the Company runs into a logging team of warty guards captained by Jabek . He wears full plate with a frog helm, but is NOT a Knight. The warty guards mention “The Toad,” and how they’re gathering materials for his castle. The guards deposit massive logs beside the lake and depart on fat donkeys.  The next day the Company come upon two scouts investigating the prints left in the boggy mud by the overweight mules. They are Scout Tom and Scout Cole , wearing strange leather bodysuits with...